Coming off a win in Paris, the Chicago Bulls are opening up a stretch of games on Monday that could play a big role in potential playoff seeding.
It’s a small sample size, but the Bulls have won two games in a row; one coming over Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors and the other overseas against the Pistons. Riding two victories, Chicago now faces a slate of very winnable games over their next four.
At 21-24, the Bulls currently occupy the 10 seed in the Eastern Conference. But, with the East being so close, only 3.0 games separate them from the no. 6 seed Miami Heat.
If Chicago was to win their next four games, they could climb the standings in a hurry. Their upcoming slate starts with a matchup against Atlanta which will also serve as DeMar DeRozan’s 1,000th career game.
The Chicago Bulls’ next four games
1/23 vs. Atlanta Hawks
1/24 @ Indiana Pacers
1/26 @ Charlotte Hornets
1/28 @ Orlando Magic
At the moment, only the Hawks have a winning record at 24-23, but have suddenly started playing a little better brand of basketball, winning 7 of 10.
The Pacers, meanwhile, have lost seven straight and look all out of sorts.
The Hornets and Magic are both way down there in the Eastern Conference standings with a couple of the worst records in basketball.
Let’s say the Bulls are able to win these four games and end up at 25-24. There is a realistic possibility of Chicago jumping up two or three spots to either the no. 8 or no. 7 seed in the East, depending on how the New York Knicks also finish out their week (currently 25-22).
The Bulls have shown the ability to play good ball this year at times, and thus don’t seem likely to make any major moves before the trade deadline that’s coming up. At one point, some thought the team could blow it up, or at the very least try to trade Nikola Vucevic who’s in the last year of his contract.
For now, Chicago looks like they will try and make their way into the postseason, and this stretch might just be the momentum swing they need.
